Brooke's Visit: Melbourne and Sydney

Sorry it's been a bit since my last update, but a lot has happened since then, and this time I have pictures...

Brooke came in on the 17th and we spent our first day walking around Melbourne in the heat. Brooke was understandably a little tired from her trip (Rome - USA - Los Angeles - Melbourne), but we managed to see a lot and enjoy the weather while it lasted...

Our first full day we had a tour scheduled to visit the Yarra Valley and Healesville Animal Sanctuary. Although our brochure advertised a formal tea ceremony, we found the actual "Billy tea" a bit more rudimentary. Nevertheless, we drank our tea and decided to feed some Cockatoos who are not in the least bit shy. I have the scars to prove it.

Our next stop was the Puffing Billy - a steam engine that has been in service for about 100 years. Although it no longer serves its original purpose, the train still provides for some unique scenery as it winds through the bush of Victoria.

For lunch we were dropped off at Ferguson Winery, where the day started to come off the rails a bit...

After lunch we stopped at Healesville Animal Sanctuary, where we got our first look at dingos and kangaroos.

The next day we went to the beach at St. Kilda. Unfortunately the wind was really howling and it was pretty cool, but it didn't stop us from having some oysters and wine at the end of the day. My friend Chris met us there and decided to take us to the casino where I lost $5 on roulette.

The next day we took a tour to Phillip Island to see the little penguins march up onto the beach from the ocean at dusk. We weren't allowed to take pictures of that actual event, but the island was gorgeous. On the way up we stopped at a Koala Sanctuary where they were clinging to the branches very high in the air...Check out the rules for the sanctuary....And here's us at the top of Phillip Island.

In addition to the sanctuary we stopped at a little farm for lunch where we were able to feed some kangaroos and wombats.

The following day we departed for Sydney. We spent the day just hanging around, preparing ourselves for the climb the next day. There is a big bridge in Sydney, and in 1998 they started allowing people to climb to the very top of the arch. Before we climbed (with a guide) we went through an hour long orientation to acquaint ourselves with the harnesses and steep steps we would be climbing. Here were are in our jumpsuits...

And here we are at the top. Really, really cool.

By the way, our hotel was awesome. The Russel is one of the oldest hotels in Sydney, and we had a room facing the harbor.

Next up on our agenda was a visit to the Blue Mountains. We spent the first half of the day walking around ScenicWorld, which is kind of like a nature theme park complete with railroads and see-through floor cable-cars. The views were really spectacular. Check out the rules for the cable car - "no charismatic leaning".

Later that day our tour took us to another zoo where we were able to get a little closer to the koalas...

On our free day we had planned to go to Bondi beach, but unfortunately it was raining most of the time. We decided to check out the Sydney Opera House instead, which was really a great tour. We found out that we could get tickets to "The Magic Flute" for $50 if we had student ID's, so we purchased ourselves some tickets that are regularly $280 a piece and had a night at the opera.

Earlier that morning we took a ferry the Sydney Fish Market - the largest fish market in the world next to Tokyo. You could buy oysters on the half shell there as well as sashimi and a million kinds of fish. Tasmanian oysters were very good. Big, creamy and sweet. But fresh enough that the creaminess was pleasant. Also, big crabs.

The next day was very sad, as we parted ways at the airport. The international and domestic flights left from different terminals, but I scored some free bus tickets and travelled to the international terminal to see her off.

I know this isn't the most detailed update, but I figured some photos were better than nothing.

Got a full time gig at DHL and I start tomorrow. Wish me luck!

News...

So a few days have passed and I am happy to report that I have found employment at "the gravy train" - a local cafe only a short walk away from my house. They hired me despite my lack of cafe experience, and I am quickly learning how to carry multiple coffees without spilling their scalding contents onto children.

Back to New Years Day. After we returned from the races, Eben, Petra and I decided to see a free show in St. Kilda (beachfront area of Melbourne). Upon arrival at 9PM, we found out the DJ we wanted to see didn't go on until 1AM, which ended up being 1:45. Needless to say, we were exhausted at the end of that day, my first full day in Melbourne.

Things did slow down for a bit after that, and I spent my time peppering the town with my resume. Amusement parks, book stores, ice cream shops, bars, cafes, any place that had a door I gave my resume to. I got a few call backs, and one of them was the bar that I mentioned in the last post. They thought I did a good job after my "try-out", but I haven't heard from them since. I'm going back tomorrow to pick up my wages and we'll see what they say. I much prefer the cafe job anyways. Pays the same, and doesn't require a train ride.

So for the next week I'll be working almost every day until Brooke gets here (the 17th). Then some serious sight-seeing begins, and I can relax for a bit (read: no work).

Soon I will share with you the coffee culture of Melbourne...stay tuned...

Job-Seeking

"You worked behind a bar before?"
"I tended bar in DC for a while."
"Can you be here at seven tonight?"

Here we go.

First Full Day

New Years was nice...picnic in the park and fireworks at midnight. Celebrations got real when three competing factions of the crowd began setting off their own fireworks. These were some serious boomers, too.

And then some kids took to setting off flares in the middle of traffic. Happy New Year!

Backtracking - after picking me up from the airport, Petra gave me a little driving tour of Melbourne and we stopped in St. Kilda to get a bite to eat. Fresh calamari and chorizo salad. Let me tell you something - the calamari was not chewy. At all. Just creamy and delicious.

After that we went to the mall to try and get me a cell phone. Trying to understand a cell phone plan after two beers and a fifteen hour flight was tricky. You don't buy "minutes" but rather more money. For $20 a month I'm getting $450 worth of credit. But other plans had different setups...one was unlimited texting. One was rollover. And they all have different allowances and different rates. Brand loyalty kicked in and I went with Virgin Wireless.

So that was New Years Eve. New Years Day was even longer.

Eben and his friend picked me up at 11AM to go to the races at Hanging Rock. On New Years Day, there are horse races all around the country and the closest one to Melbourne was the one we were headed to. We arrived a few minutes before the first race and decided to place a little bet to make things interesting. There are a ton of bookies standing around with computer terminals and an LED board with their odds listed. Like the good novice gambler I am, the first thing I did was look at the horses' names. "Silent Harmony"? How could I resist?

Well, he was just about last in everyone's predictions. A bookie named "Chippy" had him at 42:1 to win it, and 7:1 to place. Yikes. But after a little bit of walking I found someone who had him at 10:1 to win. I figured that guy's confidence was enough for me to return to Chippy and place $2.50 each way on Silent Harmony. If the horse wins, I get $105. If it places, I get $17.50.

Well wouldn't you know it, that damn horse came in second place. High fives and beers all around! I knew this was either the beginning of a very good day, or perhaps the beginning of a very bad one. Time would tell.

So as soon we place our bet for the next race...$5 on Fat Tony to place. A cool $25 was bound to be in my pocket, I knew it. But then a voice from the loudspeaker: Ladies and Gentlemen, unfortunately there is a hole in the track that is unrepairable. Therefore the remaining five races are cancelled and no refunds will be given, as is the racetrack policy. But please stick around, we still have the band and the TVs, so you might as well enjoy your time here. Also, if you have a Founder's Club ticket, a full refund will be given.


No, I didn't have a Founder's Club ticket. And no, I didn't have any interest in the band or the TV's in the 90 degree sun.

But I left a winner. And that's all that mattered.

More to come on this day later...

Happy New Year

Goodnight!

Finally.

Melbourne, Victoria: Arrival

After upwards of 20 hours in the air, I am here. 

If you ever have the opportunity to fly Virgin Airlines...do it. On the way to LAX I watched the Champs Bowl while sipping ginger ales I ordered from a touch screen. The flight to Melbourne had a ton of great movies to stream for free (everything from Citizen Cane to Midnight in Paris), and countless episodes of Modern Family to punctuate my snoozing. I was able to sleep most of the way, setting me up for a seamless transition into a timezone sixteen hours ahead of EST (I left at 1:30AM EST and arrived at 8:15AM local time). As of writing this (7PM) I haven't slept...I hope to stay awake long enough to catch the midnight fireworks and then sleep the night.

But I'm getting too tired to write anymore. And now the fight will begin. My plan for the night includes wine-drinking in a park. I'm sure I'll be fi...

Vienna, Austria and The End

Well, since I got caught up in meeting various friends throughout the end of my trip, I stopped updating about six days before I returned. My memory is a bit hazy, so I'm going to have my friend Brandon Moffitt tell you all about it.

After Vienna, I visited my then girlfriend in Athens, and then flew back to BWI. I am alive and well.

Budapest Continued

Alright, time for the big update.

My second day spent in Budapest wasn't that eventful. I leisurely woke up and made some breakfast, watched the news, and drank tea until about 10:30. Sometimes you just have to decompress. I made some eggs but they turned about really bad because the pan was a piece of crap and I didn't have any butter, so these English girls were laughing at me behind my back. Too bad I spit in their coffee when they weren't looking.

I pretty much spent the day checking out Budapest on foot. Some of things I saw were the Grand Synagogue (which was right by my hostel), St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Opera House and the Chain Bridge. Budapest is actually two cities (Buda and Pest) separated by the Danube River (which is never blue). I was staying in Pest, which was the more major city area. Buda is much more hilly, and is home to some of Budapest's most famous views and buildings. The shore is met by a really steep hill that most people took a funicular to get up to the top of. But being poor, I walked to the top myself. It wasn't that bad - the path was covered in trees to shade me from the sun.

Once at the top, I had three major sights to see. The first was a big cathedral (forgive me for not knowing the same) that was mostly under construction. The scaffolding obscured the the good views, so I did my best to snap a photo of it. The second was Fisherman's Quarry, which surrounds the church. It's sort of a decorative wall that crowns the hill. It's where a lot of famous pictures are taken, so I took one myself.

The last sight I saw from up top was Buda Castle. This place was absolutely huge, and although I didn't feel like going inside (another art museum), the outside was spectacular enough. I especially liked this dramatic fountain of a hunting team.

After walking around shops for a while I went down the hill and crossed back over another bridge to get back to my hostel. The other bridge allowed me to get some good photos of Chain Bridge, which is the most famous bridge in Budapest.

On the way back I was starving, and I told myself I would go to the first kebab place I stumbled across. What a mistake. Although it was pretty cheap, it was the worst kebab I have ever had the misfortune of eating. I knew right away it was going to be bad when I saw the meat shavings laying stale on the metal plate. This is the first key to a good kebab. Before I tell you the rest, I should go over what exactly a kebab is. A kebab is a giant cylinder of compressed meet, roasted on a spit and then shaved (either by a big sword or an electric shaver) into a pita, burrito or sandwich. Inside they usually put lettuce, tomato, hot spices and some kind of sauce. The keys to a good kebab are as follows:

1) Kebab meat is freshly shaven. This way it's not laying next to the kebab getting impossible stale while the rest of the meat maintains its juicy goodness.

2) Sufficient meat is provided. A kebab on a spit is an impressive size, and I hate it when they are skimpy on the meat. It means you have to rely on the crappy vegetables and mystery sauce to fill you.

3) Not sloppy. A sloppy kebab is a sloppy effort. Either they put way too much meat in (which is usually an acceptable sloppy), or way too much sauce (unforgivable). Sometimes this is complimented by a very poor quality pita that is not meant to hold such greasy goodness or the burrito is airy, bendable and loose, depending on the variety of kebab you order.

4) Properly organized. All the ingredients should be mixed so the first bites are not all lettuce, tomato, meat, etc. It should be consistent till the very last bite.

Now I hate to say it, but this kebab failed on ALL FOUR of these requirements. When I ordered it, I shuddered as she threw a small pita into the microwave, filled the pita to the brim with sauce and vegetables before putting the meat in, shoveled stale, hard meat into it (I could hear it scrape against the metal), and then topped it off with a generous helping of mystery sauce. She even had the gall to wrap the pita in paper, as to provide me with a wall of sorts to keep the overflowing pita contained.

Now she probably thought she was doing me a favor filling it to the brim. When I got it, I'll tell you the truth - it didn't look that bad. The meat was on top (remember, bad) and it was practically spilling out of the pita. What could go wrong? Everything. Removing the paper to try and eat the meat was a disaster, and I spilled half of it on the floor and my pants. Then, after getting the pita to a manageable size, all that was left was saucy lettuce, and I felt like I was going to throw up. No joke, I didn't even finish it, and walked down the street and ordered chinese food and ate that instead back at the hostel.

I plan on writing her a nasty letter.

That night I did some laundry and watched soccer and prepared for the next day, which was going to be pretty busy.

I had four things planned for that day. The first stop was the Grand Synagogue. The inside was spectacular, and outside they had a very thoughtful memorial to the victims of the holocaust, a metal weeping willow with names engraved on the leaves. Upstairs they had an exhibition on the Jewish Ghetto in Prague (not sure why exactly since I was in Budapest), but nevertheless it informative and really sad. Some of the stories I heard from the exhibition were really intense.

The next stop was the Terror House. This, without a doubt, is the coolest museum I have ever been to. The site of the museum is the former headquarters of the Secret Police for the Arrow Cross Party and the Soviets. This is where they used to interrogate, torture, execute and imprison hundreds of people. The first three levels were dedicated to Budapest's history during WW2 and the Soviet Era, while the basement was specifically about the building itself. I wasn't allowed to take any pictures, but you can see some of the exhibition here. The downstairs had cells with pictures of the people that had been housed in them. It was very, very creepy.

My third stop was the Szechenyi Baths. Budapest is famous for its assortment of Turkish baths, I wasn't going to leave without visiting one of them. I didn't feel like worrying about taking care of my camera there, so I'll just link to other's photos. The bath operates year round, and is a collection of about twenty different medicinal baths, fed by hot springs. They range from cold to really hot, and they even had a circular bath with a current that swept you around in a circle. Inside they had more baths, as well as saunas, steam rooms and massage parlors. I spent about three hours there, and it was great.

My fourth and final stop of the day was a concert. I try to make at least one concert while I am in Europe, and I have never been disappointed. The tickets were a bit expensive, but I knew it was worth it since I was seeing Mozart's Requiem in St. Stephen's Cathedral. I paid for a crap student ticket, but once I saw the lack of security, I walked right up to the most expensive seats and watched the show from there. The inside is beautiful, and the concert was one of the coolest things I have ever heard. The sound reverberated from above, as well as to the sides. Being inside such a cathedral for a show like that is the best way to hear it.

After the concert, I headed back to the hostel, picked up some cheese and wine, and watched soccer until I went to bed. It was definitely one of the best days I have had traveling. A great mixture of sight-seeing, education, relaxation, culture, wine, music and sports. A good precursor to Vienna.

Oh yeah, and I didn't actually spit in their coffee. Who do you think I am?

Zagreb and My Birthday

My last night in Dubrovnik, I said goodbye to my hosting family and watched the soccer game with the dad until he was completely passed out on the couch. I didn't think it was appropriate to snap a picture of it, but it was pretty funny.

The next morning I had to get up pretty early to start my travels out of Dubrovnik. I had to take the 7:20 bus to the station, the 8:00 bus to Split, and then the 3:06 train to Zagreb. By the end of all that, I just wanted to get in bed. Walking through Dubrovnik at night was just as cool as the first time, and when I saw the outdoor bar and giant television, I knew that the next night's game was going to be crazy (Croatia vs. Germany).

I had some initial troule finding my hostel, but I eventually did find it after ten minutes of intense cursing and gritting of my teeth. After grabbing some pizza I hit the sack around one.

I was pretty tired the next morning from travelling still, so even though I did walk around Zagreb's serene gardens and squares, I spent the majority of the day in a bookstore browsing around. Sometimes it's nice just to relax and not feel pressured to do anything. There's a few things about Zagreb that I really, really like.

1) In the main area, there are no cars - only trams. This means that there is little to no noise in the center, besides the clangs of bustling cafes and hums of moving trams. It makes it seem a lot more pedestrian friendly.

2) Everywhere you look, cafe tables line the streets and people are constantly sitting at them socializing over wine, coffee, tea or beer. It's a very social city, and I'm not sure how its inhabitants can afford such liberal drinking habits, but it's cool nonetheless. It has a better cafe atmosphere than in Paris.

3) The city is green. The main drag is split by botanical gardens, and trees hang over the streets in many places. At night, the gardens light up and it looks spectacular.

Besides these three reasons, the buildings are old and elegant, and the city is kept very clean.

My second night there was the huge game against Germany. I had to move hostels after my first night because they were so booked, so I didn't have anyone to go to the game with. It was alright though because once I got to the square, it was packed with people watching the opening minutes of the game. When Croatia scored it's second goal, the place went nuts. People lit up flares and were throwing them, beer bottles were flying overhead, and the Croatian anthem was being sung by everyone there (except me, who just sounded off random vowels and guessed the tune - no one noticed). After we won it got even crazier, and a band played till late in the night. I'll get a video up here in a little bit.

I'd like to take the time now to apologize to Stefan. Under any other circumstances, I would be rooting for Germany. I am sad to report that I will be in Vienna when Germany plays Austria in Vienna, and I will be cheering for Austria. Please know that it's only because I plan to leave Austria alive, and waving the German flag in the heart of Vienna will surely guarantee and ass kicking of enormous proportions.

I consider that night to be my birthday celebration, because yesterday was a bit of a dud. I woke up real early (and feeling it pretty bad from the night before) to get on an eight hour train ride to Budapest. I met an older couple from Australia (who gave me some lettuce and olives when I said I was starving) who insisted that we go out to dinner for my Birthday. We split ways once we got into the city, and met back up a few hours later.

We ended up going to "Don Pepe", which is basically the Chi-Chi's of Europe. Even though they are massive tourists (complaining loudly about the smoke in the restuarant, nose buried in a map, walking out into moving traffic, talking unbelievably loud, walking in strange places just to use a bathroom) they are fun people, and I enjoyed the light-hearted company after a day of traveling. They took me out for a birthday drink after, and after that I came back to the hostel and went to bed.

The hostel I am staying in now is really nuts. It's basically someone's apartment (again), but it's less someones home and more someone's hostel. A young couple run it, and right now I basically have the kitchen, computer, lounge, TV, and bedroom all to myself. It's nice to sit back and relax in silence for once. Silence is hard to come by when traveling like this.

Today I'll be exploring Budapest and taking loads of pictures, I'll report back and have them up soon. Thanks for all the birthday wishes, all. It's nice to know I'm being thought about all the way back home.

Croatian Wine Tour

My last full day spent in Dubrovnik was another good one. I had a lot of fun on the Bosnian tour, and when Iva (I think that's how you spell his name) said there was a wine tour the next day for the same price (basically sixty dollars for all day transportation, four stops with wine, spirits and fresh food), I bit.

We started off at a famous botanical garden from the Baroque period. It is supposedly one of the oldest gardens in Europe. (It's definitely the oldest if you ask a Croatian). The garden was huge and had a wide variety of different plants and such (I managed to take a pretty cool picture of one), and it also had some old buildings and ruins with views of the ocean. How would you like to have this as your front yard?

He also pointed out that the palm trees are brown on the undersides. Iva said that this variety of palm is very hearty, but when the Serbs dropped bombs on Dubrovnik, the palms caught fire and almost burned down. He said that you can see evidence of the destruction everywhere if you just look closely at buildings and plants. When we asked him further about the war, he told us that the Serbs dropped bombs on his town on his first day of high school. He said he remembers his father organizing a town resistance, gathering machine guns and other things in case there was an invasion on foot. During the war he said that he lived as a refugee with his family in a hotel for a while. He told us that he occasionally has nightmares about it, but that life is very good right now for his family.

Looking at the family, you wouldn't know they had been through any kind of emotional trauma that a war can bring on - It was very interesting to spend time with people who lived through the biggest conflict of the decade in the nineties.

We left there after about an our and started off the actual wine tour at this water front little house where a woman lives with her husband and makes wine and catches oysters. When we got there she brought out 2 liters of wine from her cellar (one white, one red) and then went down to the water to get our oysters. Eating them straight from the sea like that was amazing, and even though there were a few little worms wiggling on the platter after we were down, Iva assured us that the worms were nothing to worry about: "Ah yes, ah yes, this means they are very fresh".

If there was one place I know my dad would have appreciated, it was this next stop (well maybe it would have been the oyster stop, you'll have to wait for his comment). We walked into a seemingly plain building, but were pretty struck when we walked into this cellar with cured ham hanging from all over the ceiling. We started off with a welcome spirit, and I ordered what she recommended - some kind of nut liquor.

Soon after she brought out a few liters of wine, fresh bread, olive oil, cheeses and of course, the prosciutto. It ages for two years in this cellar before they serve it. The meal was light, but really delicious, and I was disappointed to leave so soon. Iva assured us that there was much more to come, though.

The last stop on the wine portion of the tour, and perhaps the coolest, was an old man's giant cellar where he makes a ton of different spirits, as well as his own wine. He has made it illegally since the sixties, and has a million different stories about trying to brew alcohol illegally under communist rule, the war, etc. Before we got there, Iva told us that he prays every day that he is alive, because he drinks about two liters of wine a day. When we got there the wife told us that he was taking a little nap, and that would should help ourselves to his stash until he came down. Iva wasted no time pouring us his wine and spirits, and after a while, a very old man with a cap and cane walked slowly down into the cellar and started telling us stories about his winery, which is still ran illegally due to tax reasons.

I have videos of him talking, and he sounds just like the Godfather. I might get a chance to upload them later, but you'll just have to use your imagination by looking at his own bottle of wine (you can actually see him right behind it).

The beach and snorkeling was next. Iva spent a while trying to find "the perfect beach for today" and along the way we almost hit a turtle which Iva insisted we pick up and take back to his house for a pet. After giving the turtle to me to hold for a while, it started to pee and crap all in the bag we had under it, so we convinced Iva that dumping him off at the beach would be a much better idea.

When we all got to the beach we had a little trouble snorkeling after a day of drinking wine, but we all managed. The Norwegian guy was much more tolerable on this trip too. I don't know if it was because of an additional American besides myself on the trip, or the wine. Probably both. Either way, we got along pretty well the rest of the trip.

The last stop was the ocean-side pizza cafe. Iva ordered us pizza before hand, and we ended the day looking out over the water as the sun set. All in all, a great day for sixty bucks.

Bosnia

When I planned my second trip to Europe, I was a little worried that my plans were a little too stagnant and that I would not be able to improvise if I wanted to. I realized I was wrong when I heard that the hostel organizes day trips to Mostar, Bosnia.

Six of us piled in the car at nine this morning and headed off towards Mostar. The first stop we made was an old fortress atop a hill, where the longest wall in Europe once stood. Many of it is now in ruins, but they have restored some of it, so we walked up the obscenely steep wall to the top where our guide (the son of the owner of the hostel) gave us a brief history lesson.

After that, we crossed the border and ate lunch in Bosnia, where we were served these flaky pastries filled with potatoes, cheese and meat. It was all served with plain yogurt, which was a surprisingly good compliment to our food.

Iva then drove us up a big hill and down into this park with some really cool waterfalls. The water was about 10 C, but some people from our group went swimming anyways. He said the park was usually full, but it was empty today because of the rain. I decided to skip having a swim - just hanging out around the falls was cool enough.

There was a rope swing at the other side, and the four people I was with (a Canadian, a Norwegian, a Finn and an Australian) thought it was the scariest thing they had ever seen. I don't know why they were making such a big deal out of it. It was only about 2 feet above the water once you drop, and the rope wasn't that long. However I knew that when people are scared of a rope swing, they will inevitably make an ass of themselves. The Canadian did just that, and I have a great video of it below. I was hoping the Norwegian would do it and fall on his face. He just can't seem to stop making little snide comments (and big ones) about America. I can roll with that pretty easily while traveling, but soon enough I'm going to start making fun of him for everything he does and says that I find stupid.



His comments range from everything to "I have very little respect for your country and your system" to what he just said at breakfast:

"Yes, we got back yesterday and one of the Americans or Canadians said 'we did the wall thing' *pompous laugh because the girl didn't remember the name of the damn wall*). I don't think even he remembers what it was called. And you can't even have a normal conversation with him, because he knows so much more than you, and if you like something he doesn't, he will provide you with his professional opinion very gladly on why you are wrong and your ideas are rubbish. Of course he precedes everything with "I'm sorry but" so he doesn't seem too harsh to such stupid Americans as myself. I'm waiting for the perfect opportunity for the perfect burn. It will come and it will be GLORIOUS. Unfortunately I'm going with him on a wine tour, so I'll have to hear why everything I like sucks.

The next stop was Mostar, the former war torn city of Bosnia. It took a while for us to get here, and when he stepped out of the car, the fact that I was in Bosnia really struck me. Parts of it are still very rough, and you can see scars of the war on every block. However once we entered the old town, the scenery changed. The bridge (where locals will jump for money) provided amazing views of the city, and the river running through really made the city look cool.

After crossing the bridge, we entered into the old city, which is filled with a bunch of merchants and such selling souvenirs and crafts and such. They make some pretty ridiculous pipes over here...

We ate lunch at a restaurant looking over the river, where we were served pita with beef sausage and of course, yogurt. At first it struck me as odd that they didn't serve beer or pork sausage, but then I remembered that we were at a Muslim establishment. After taking a few more pictures, we jumped in the car and headed back into Croatia, which is one hell of a ride at sunset.

But before we got home, we stopped at a roadside stop and ate some fresh oysters from the Mediterranean...

Tomorrow I plan on going on a wine tour, so I'll let you know how that goes.

Updates

Pictures are up - get excited. I'm having a blast in Croatia.

Dubrovnik

After my last post I caught the train to Zagreb and met some guys from USC who I would eventually spend the rest of the night with. We arrived in Zagreb, and they went immediately to an internet cafe so I decided to tag along. I had about 3 hours to kill in Zagreb, so it wasn't bad to have some company.

While walking through the city (which is gorgeous - probably my favorite city and I only spent a few hours there), we asked a security guard if he knew where the nearest internet cafe was. While trying to help us out, he asked us where we were all from. I just went with the flow when one of them said "California", and his eyes lit up and started talking in a hushed wisper.

"Ahhh...California...This I know. You know...Motorcycle men...Hells Angels...(looks around)...We have chapter here."

At this we all kind of smiled but were definitely intriuged.

"But what is different...We are not criminals, big men who fight and things...Instead we like to drink, have good time and....(makes thrusting gestures)...fuck lots of pretty women, no?"

Now this guy probably stands in front of the bank everyday, just watching people pass, and was definitely excited to meet someone, let alone Americans from California who know about Hells Angels - but we were excited to meet him too.

After giving us some directions, he invited us to a pub on Friday night where his band is playing (this guy is about 50), and told us that he plays the harmonica and that there are plenty of girls to go around. None of us were going to be there, but we obliged and told him we would try to make it.

We thanked him for his recommendation and headed towards the pizza place where I ordered a "Sexy Pizza" - pizza with mushrooms, eggs and sausage (which turned out to be a big hot dog cut in two). You'll see why they call it sexy pizza when I upload pictures (which I promise will be soon).

So me and the guys got on board a night train to Split with our pizza and beer, and had a pretty good ride just hanging out, listening to music off of one of their ipods, and jamming to some guitar jams provided by my travel guitar. The second half of the ride sucked, and we all slept in about every position possible to get some sleep.

When we arrived in Split, we were immediately accosted by people shouting "Cheap accommodation, no problem, very close, good for you". Those guys were staying in Split and had no reservations, so they bit on the first woman to offer it to them, and we parted ways soon after.

I instead had a bus to catch to Dubrovnik (no trains run to Dubrovnik), and even though it was incredibly uncomfortable, the scenery was amazing. We actually stopped at a cafe in Bosnia along the way. The bus drivers almost left without a few people both times we stopped though. They seemed generally unconcerned with the girl screaming "STOP! MY BOYFRIEND!" until they saw him running toward the bus.

When I got to Dubrovnik, I was again accosted by about ten women telling me that they had a good place to stay in, and even though I told them all I already had reservations in a reputable place, they continued to push. One woman got really pissed off at me and went to the other women that didn't pick up travelers and yelled something while pointing to me while I stood at the bus stop. Oh well.

When I got to the hostel (which I had a terrible time finding), I felt instantly welcomed. A couple and their son runs the place, and the first thing I did was sit down with a welcome drink (plum brandy) while he explained what there is to do in Dubrovnik while drawing up bus routes on my map. I arrived with an Australian girl, and she also had a welcome drink poured for her. He had a sip and decided she wasn't ready for liquor at noon time, and offered me the rest in fear that the host would be offended. I obliged, and when I was shown to my room, the bed looked really, really nice. The view from the hostel was amazing.

Spending a night on the night train followed by a five hour bus ride and two shots of brandy can make you really damn tired.

I slept for about two hours before I decided to head down to the harbor and check out the town. My original plan was to see the old town at night (the famous part), but I saw rain clouds coming and I didn't want to push my luck...again. (My camera works by the way) I grabbed some dinner at a local pizza place and watched Turkey play Portugal in the EuroCup.

After having an AMAZING breakfast cooked by Milka (some kind of fried pastries), I decided I would walk into the Old City. While walking through, I couldn't help but notice the intense Croation decor hanging from every window and cafe. Croatia plays Austria tonight, and actually I'm writing this while watching the game at the hostel as the son hangs a flag from the balcony. Everyone is wearing a jersey or wearing a flag for a cape, and the honking was near constant. Every time someone passed someone with ANY kind of fan gear, an apparently compulsory beep was heard.

The Old City was really amazing though. It's a giant walled fortress, and inside the architecture is really breathtaking. After about thirty minutes though, you realize that the only thing inside of the old city is cafes, tourist shops and restaurants. It's flooded with tourists and gets old pretty quick. Eventually I left and made my way down the coast, passing quite a few five star hotels along the way. Despite the tourism, it as an amazing thing to see.

Dubrovnik is renown for it's seafood, so on the way home I picked up some pasta and about 40 fresh mussels for 14 kuna (about $2.40). When I got back to the hostel, I started cooking my meal when Milka (the mom of six who runs the place) starts asking what in the hell I'm exactly doing. My plan was to cook the mussels in olive oil, salt, garlic, and parsley, and pour that mixture over the pasta. When Milka (who was a cook for 25 years) told me to start doing something different though, I definitely obliged. She eventually took over my piss-poor efforts, and cooked me up a delicious meal of pasta and mussels.

And that about leads me to what I'm doing now. I just finished cleaning my dishes, and I'm watching the end of the game with the rests of the guests on their big projection screen. Croatia is in the lead, and if they win, I think we will all go out with the son and celebrate. After a low point in Bled, I'm having a great time in Croatia.

Tomorrow I'm off on a day trip to Bosnia with the son and a few guests. Should be really cool to be there.

And it looks like CROATIA WINS! Time to celebrate...I actually JUST took this picture.

Salzburg and Bled

Well, my next day in Salzburg was pretty uneventful. I had three things I wanted to do: See the trick fountains, go to the top of the castle, and see the Glockenspiel. None of those things really happened.

I started off the day getting some food from the grocery store, and ran into some guys with fraternity letters on, so I knew that they were from the states. We talked for a while and then they decided to join me to get food from the market. They had already been to the top of the castle that day, so I asked if they wanted to see the trick fountains. It appeared generally close on the map so we headed out there. Unfortunately we found that the icon on the map was an arrow pointing 4km off of the map. We had already walked a ways to the icon, so we decided to forget the whole idea anyways.

I decided that I was going to get something to eat and then take a nap before I tackled the castle, and once I woke up I felt a little too tired to go all the way up there, so I took a walk to find the Glockenspiel to see if I could gather enough energy. I walked around trying to find it, but I didn't exactly know what it looked like and there were a million different clocks all throughout the city, so trying to find which one was the right one was a difficult task, especially when they were all ringing at once and echoing all over the city. But I think I found it. Also, they have temporarily commercialized the crap out of Salzburg for the EuroCup, so it took away from a lot of the beauty.

I never did muster up the energy to get to the top (I think they closed it regardless). I retired back to the hostel and ate dinner and watched the Sound of Music, which ran continuously all day...

The next day I began my voyage into Bled, Slovenia, which is supposed to be gorgeous. It rained all the way there, so I didn't have a great feeling about it. I almost missed my stop and jumped off the train while it was moving, so that was a little scary. Some guys at the station were laughing at me because it was so close. About that - the Slovenian people are the nicest I have met so far. The guys that were laughing asked me about my trip and wished me a good time, while the lady at the ticket desk gave me her cell phone to call the hostel to pick me up. A lady in the grocery store even left the store to point me to the nearest ATM...

An old guy in a van came to pick me up, and he seemed really helpful and experienced in the English language. Unfortunately neither of these things turned out to be true. He pick up some other guests from the lake after getting me, and we all headed back to the hostel to eat some homemade Slovenian food prepared by his wife. The hostel was a big house, and he lived in one half while we lived in the other. The basement was the kitchen, lounge and dining room for the guests.

The first night we had seven - two Americans, an Australian couple, two Australian sisters and myself. We had a good time just eating and talking into the night.

The next day I decided to go to Bled Lake and Vintgar Gorge with the American girls. They had both graduated college a year or two ago, and one of them was on a seven month trip. The gorge was really amazing. The water was a beautiful green color, and there were a lot of waterfalls and cool little areas to check out while you walked across a wooden walkway stretching down the entire gorge.

After the gorge, we walked through a small town to get to the lake itself, and got to see some everyday Slovenian neighborhoods and villages. The hike also included a stop off at Bled Castle, which overlooks the lake on a craggy peak. Apparently there are a lot of things you can't do here.

When we got to the lake, we got some lunch and then started the 6km journey around the lake. We took our time, and Katie even decided to go swimming for a while. The lake is fed by hot springs, so the water was surprisingly warm. I also got attacked by a swam while sitting on the dock. There's a great picture of it but it wasn't taken with my camera so I don't have it yet.

After we finished our walk around the lake we got picked up by the old man (named Damien) and headed back to our hostel for dinner. I really think that Damien is going senile, as the night before he got into a big argument with the sisters (Lisa and Jenny) because he charged them for nine beers when they only had had three. The hostel also advertised free internet, and it never worked for the entirety being there. He pretty much would answer you with "is no problem" whenever you asked to get it fixed, so we never really got anywhere with that. "Is OK" was also a big part of his vocab. A lot of times he would just hum like three little notes out loud and then look around like he was confused, and then find something to do. There was one time when I was about two minutes late for the shuttle and he got upset and told the girls to get me. When I came down and got in the car, he just stood outside for about three minutes scratching his head and looking around. Quite a character.

I would have a picture of him, but I ran into some serious crap the next day. I decided to spend the day at Lake Bonhinj, which is a larger, but more serene lake. When I got off the bus, it was pouring rain. I walked to the tourist info placed and asked the guy if there were any good hikes, and he said that the hike around the lake was about 3km. I decided that it was doable in the rain (which had slightly subsided) so I put my camera and cell phone in one of the deep pockets to keep dry and headed off.

The first part of the walk was really nice. The fog drifted down onto the pines and it made for some really good scenery. I didn't know this at first, but the lake is really narrow and curvy, and it seemed like I had been walking way more than 3km when I found out from a couple that it was actually 8 miles around. This was a bit discouraging because I was beginning to get really wet, and I had really had enough of hiking around in the rain. I was right near the half way point when I decided to take a look at my camera and see if it was dry. Unfortunately it wasn't. I started freaking out because I was at least a forty minutes from a dry place and had no where dry to put it. I grabbed my cellphone to look for the time and found out that it had also been drenched, and was now off with no chance of coming back on.

This is when I got a little upset.

I walked as fast as I could to the rest area, where I just made a bus back to Bled. I didn't care about the rest of the hike or how much it cost - my camera was in jeopardy. I got back to bled and found a dry place to dry it off, and then bought a bag of rice to stick them both in (its a trick I read on the internet for drying off electronics). It was still pouring rain and the shuttle didnt come back until 6, so I spent a good hour just sitting under an umbrella until I got too annoyed and called Damien to pick me up.

"I am busy now but is a no problem. I come for you now at bus station."

So I hurried to the bus station and waited, and waited and waited: until six (two hours later). When he pulled up I asked him what happened to four o´clock.

"I was in Jevenica and it was far from here. Is a no problem"

Actually it WAS a problem, but I only had one night and trying to argue would have been pointless. When I got back all I wanted was a hot shower, but the water had not been working in my bathroom for 2 days. Every time I would ask him we would tell me to "wait a ten minutes and is OK". When I returned to the hostel and the hot water ran out in thirty seconds, I wrapped a towel around me and went straight down to the girls shower, who had hot water. Luckily I was able to relax and warm up after a pretty crappy day. When I told him about it, he said he would "look into it soon, is OK?".

Because we are far from the train station, I couldn't take the early train out to Zagreb in order to get to Dubrovnik in time, so now I have to take the night train tonight and push all my reservations a day forward. If I was at another hostel, I could've nabbed the 7 AM train and had no problem. He dropped me off today at the train station and now I am in the capital (Ljubljana - pronounced Loob-lana) writing this. Its been raining all day and I'm not about to have a repeat of yesterday.

With the camera and cell phone: Both of them kind of worked this morning. They didn't short out and break permanently, so I decided two more days of the rice bag should fix them completely. The screen is pretty foggy right now so I hope I don't have a repeat of last year... At least my photos are safe.

Well, Ive got to go. Still cant find a place to upload photos...I'm trying.

Hallstatt

Well, all the guides I read told me not to arrive in Hallstatt after 5:30...Well, I had no choice since I was coming from Prague. The only way to get to Hallstatt from the train station is to take the ferry over, and it stops running at 6:00. As I flew by the station at about ten o'clock, I wondered just how I would get into Hallstatt - a small lakeside town where I had no reservations whatsoever.

I got off at the next station and asked the station manager how to get to Hallstatt. He said the only way was a taxi. So he called up a taxi (that cost me ten euros) and I arrived in Hallstatt - the smallest city I have been to in Europe. I hadn't eaten all day except for a piece of bread, and I was starving. I went out looking for food, and the only thing that was open was a really expensive cafe. I walked back and forth all over town for an hour looking for a restaurant or a cafe, and nothing was open. I decided that I wasn't going to go to bed without food or checking the internet, because I had to satisfy one of those needs before I could sleep. The internet cafe was a euro ($1.60) for SIX MINUTES. He told me I could do a half an hour for five euros, and I still fail to see how that's a deal...

Unfortunately, I went to bed without checking the internet or eating...It was a very bad night indeed.

The next morning I went out to the grocery mart and bought some fresh cheese and rolls and filled my empty stomach. I also found an outdoor bar which had internet for a euro a half an hour...My necessities were met...I could now appreciate the town for all its beauty.

Hallstatt really rivals Interlaken for its beauty. The town's history goes back to 5,000 BC. Ever since then it has been a major salt producer. There's even a period of European history called the "Hallstatt Period". A big waterfall runs right through the city, and the houses are stacked right on top of each other, because its built right up on a cliff. It's probably the most beautiful place I have ever been. Every day gives you a different perspective on the city.

After getting something to eat, I walked up a trail that led to a gazeebo that looked over the entire town. I brought my guitar and just chilled up there for a few hours. I walked over to the waterfall for a while and checked that out as well. When I came back to the hostel I met a guy named Dallas from Australia and a guy named Matt from the States. We talked about traveling until pretty late in the night, and I was glad to interact with some people. The first morning in Hallstatt was really lonely. Not even the owner was around. They were supposed to offer breakfast, but I couldnt find it, let alone ONE PERSON in the hostel.

The next day, Matt and I decided to hike up to the top of the mountain where the salt mines are located. You can go into the mines, but it was really expensive. So instead we just hiked the other side of the trail down. Unlike last trip I have no money at all. Basically everything is being charged. Not a good strategy, but I figure that I'll never regret what I'm doing right now, so I don't mind paying a few hundred extra in interest charges...

We got to the top and coincidentally found Dallas up there as well. The overlooking bridge offered a great view of the entire lake.

After hiking back down, I took a huge nap and afterwards Matt offered to take me out to dinner. He graduated from college a year ago, and has been working as a waiter for a year to pay for the trip. He felt bad because I had no money, and took me out to dinner. It was really, really nice of him, and I hope someday to so the same for a poor traveler like myself. After that we met up with Dallas at the waterfront, and relaxed and talked for the rest of the night.

Earlier that day we had heard a siren and saw a helicopter flying above the lake, and we had wondered what the commotion was all about. While talking with Dallas, he told us that the helicopter had landed on the grassy inlet where tourists went swimming, and had unloaded a dead body from the mountain top in front of everybody. Apparently he had been climbing/skiing and had fallen to his death. A nice compliment to my visit, no?

The next morning I said my goodbyes to Matt and Dallas, and took the ferry over to the train station. The ride over had some really great views of Hallstatt.

I met a couple from San Fransisco on the way over, and they had actually lived in the Silver Spring/Rockville area thirty years ago. We talked a lot about travelling and life, and they volunteered their home to me anytime I was in San Fransisco or Bulgaria (since they have a house there - that's where the wife was from). We took the train together all the way to Salzburg together, and then parted ways.

I spent the day exploring Salzburg, and to be honest, it's not the greatest. The mountains and the fortress are nice, but after Hallstatt, it's just not as great. I will probably spend the day up at Hitler's Eagles Nest tomorrow. It's a lot of money, but I hope it will be worth it.

Tonight a guy from Wales let me use his laptop for a while, so I got free internet. I was listening to music on YouTube until a roomate came in, so now I'm in the laundry room listening to Lil Wayne and writing this. Good times.

I guess this means I am all caught up. I'm going to bed soon - I have one more night and then I'm off to Bled, Slovenia. It may sound sketchy, but wait till you see pictures...It'll blow your mind.

Until then...

Prague Continued

Pictures will be up soon...

Well, the next day I ventured back into Prague with Graham and Annie. After crossing the river, we stumbled on to the Czech Senate, which had a really cool garden and a creepy-looking wall.

We pretty much agreed that we were going to spend the majority of the day checking out Prague Castle, which has been around for thousands and thousands of years. We splurged on the "all inclusive ticket" which included the crown jewels, the crypt and the movie. Guess what was closed? The crown jewels, the crypt, and the movie. We did get to walk around St. Vitus Cathedral, which is possibly the most impressive cathedral I have ever seen. We wanted to go up into one of the towers, but we were warned about the 283 steps it would take to get there. We didnt think it would be that bad, and it was pretty terrible. The stench of greasy adolescents on field-trips was wafting through the crammed spiraling staircase the entire time, and walking in a circle up the stairs for ten minutes in the heat can be dizzying. The top did provide for some excellent views of Prague city though.

We looked through a few museums too, one of which had a picture of Maximillian the Thirds first and second wife. I think he downgraded with the second, what do you think?

The three of us decided we would eat lunch somewhere close to the castle, and decided upon some little restuarant with pretzels hanging all around the outside. When we walked in, we asked for a menu, which promptly got us soup and bread instead. We asked again for a menu, and this time he brough it out. Now I had read about how waiters will bring you food that you think is free, and then when you eat it, they charge you a huge price. So I was naturally cautious and asked in Czech how much everything cost. The waiter all of a sudden acted extremeley offended, and shoved three fingers in front of me and said three words in Czech. This didnt help. After he left, we figured that when we said "menu", he thought we meant the main course. When you ask for the menu in the Czech Republic, it is often times another word for the main course (soup, goulash and something else - usually a desert). So we figured that the bread and soup were the first two parts of the meal, and that they would be safe to eat.

When we received the dessert, I got a little worried. I knew something was going to cost us. After we finished, he gave us the bill: 1,000 crowns. About $65. I asked him what cost 220, and he again said something in Czech I didnt understand, and pointed to the menu. We figured out that it was 75 for the beer, 585 for the "menu", about 170 for tax (we think?) and 220 for the dry friggin´ bread I didnt even eat. 220 is about $17. We eventually knew that we had lost, and we left pretty upset we had just wasted that much money.

It was curious that the signs outside were all bi-lingual, but inside no one spoke a word of English. I dont expect them to, but it seemed fishy - Especially when I heard another waiter (although we were the only ones in there) speak English very well. The whole place gave us a weird vibe, and we thought that any second it would turn into a Czech butchers market (not really, but it was funny to imagine it).

At the very least, the "no smoking opium" signs and the whole experience with the two of them made for a good story. We all agreed on that.

Graham and Annie were both headed to Vienna, and I had to go there too in order to get to Hallstatt. We just made the train to Brno, and then took the train to Vienna. They had a friend they were staying with in Vienna, so I took a train to Attnang-Pucheim.

While on that train I met a girl named Suzannah. A lot of you think I am crazy for taking months off at a time and travelling Europe, but she really puts me to shame. She graduated high school, got into Stanford, but then took a year off to travel and work in Europe. Through a series of odd jobs, she now works teaching English to the Princess of Austria`s children. She`s been travelling and living in Europe by herself for almost a year now. Don`t ask me how she did that. I got off at Attnang while she continued on to Salzburg to join the kids on a mini-vacation.

My last train ride was from Attnang to Hallstatt. The ride is nearly two hours, but once I entered to Salzgammergut region, the terrain made the last two of the tweleve hour journey bearable. I just stood up and stuck my head out the window for the majority of the ride. With all that mountain air, it was great to be back in the Alps.

I´ll tell you about Hallstatt next time. My hour is almost up....

Prague

I'll admit that my first impression of Prague wasn't the greatest. Lines of XXX stores, mini-casinos and tabak stores (super-mini convenient marts) filled the streets. But I'm staying on the outskirts, and that's to be expected. It actually has its own unique charm to it once you get settled.

After adventuring down into the heart of Prague, it's one of the most beautiful cities I have been to. The architecture is incredible - and old. There really are not many cities in Europe that have survived multiple wars unscathed. The towers in Prague are ancient. Also, Prague has more tourists than any other city I have ever been to except Paris. It's wild how many people come here. One can see why though, Prague is overwhelmingly pretty.

I had some trouble the first day adjusting to the time difference. I took multiple naps throughout the day, and it earned me the name "sleep-face" from some guys from London. I didn't really do much except get my pack organized and relax. There's a really cool bar in the hostel, so I spent the beginning of my night meeting and hanging out with over travelers. After a while some of us decided to go check out Prague's nightlife and had a pretty good night even though it was a Monday. I was mostly with English guys and they were doing a great job of being English - drunk and obnoxious. Not to slam the English, but they're terrible drunks.

When I travel, there's a certain acclimation procedure I go through in every city. When I first arrive, finding the hostel is a nightmare. I hate having my backpack on - it's an instant attention grabber and you look like a huge tourist. I don't like to stand out when I travel. It's always best to blend in. Once I get to the hostel I'll half unpack and check the city out. I won't search out any major sights - I just do it to get an overall feel for how the city works. The next day is the major travel day. I usually go alone for this. I get everything organized and cleaned up, and then leave the hostel with nothing but my camera, cash and a map. The feeling of walking out of the hostel with both arms free is incredible liberating. Your senses are heightened, and you subconsciously start to blend in with the people. My biggest goal is not to look like a tourist but take in as much as I can. As I start to enter the heart of the city (and therefore the tourism district), this feeling starts to decline. The culture begins to fade. I start feeling too comfortable and my senses are lowered. It's like you enter a safety nets of sorts that allows for mistakes. Once I enter tourist areas, I often bump into things, become disorientated, etc. It's funny - that rarely happens outside the center of a city.

Today is the third day, and it's more of a sight-seeing day with people I have met. I've got a handle on the city and now I feel free to go to specific places with comfort.

Yesterday was a big day. Prague is divided by a river, and I spent my time on the east side seeing a bunch of sights such as the astronomical clock and some old towers. I don't remember the official names of everything so bear with me.

I went as far as Charles Bridge, which offers an amazing view of the other side of town and the Prague Castle. Yesterday and today are both beautiful days. I also checked out the Jewish Quarter, which at one time was an extremely overpopulated ghetto. The cemetery there holds over 10,000 graves, and even though the ghetto was destroyed in the 19th century, the graves are a reminder of the vast overcrowding. You weren't allowed to take pictures (you risk a 40 czk fine), but I paid 200 czk ($14) to see it, so I took as many as I felt like taking. Take that, Prague.

I also had a traditional Czech meal for lunch - pork shoulder, dumplings and stewed sour kraut. To be honest, it wasn't that great and it made me really, really thirsty. When you order a soda in Europe, you get one glass with no ice and no refills. It's tough nursing a coke when you're used to drinking about three when you go to a restaurant in the US.

After returning from a day weaving in and out of tourists, I spent the rest of the evening hanging out in the hostel bar, chilling with other travelers. I met a really cool couple named Graham and Annie from the University of Chicago, and we talked late into the night. Today we're going to check out the rest of the city together and will probably stay in the city until sundown. Prague at night supposed to be spectacular.

I'll get pictures up soon. Time to be off.

Arrival In Prague

I'm back in Europe for part two.

The flight(s) were terrible. Not that they were bad flights, but I had a nine hour lay over and two connecting flights meaning I had to go through customs and security a a million times, and I traveled for about 24 hours straight.

I almost missed my flight in Frankfurt because the passport check line was so long. I had to run through the airport which nearly killed me after sitting for so long.

But I did make it to Prague, and I'm sitting in my hostel now thinking about where I'm going to get my food from. It's a much different transition than last year. College has accustomed me to food whenever I want it, privacy whenever I need it, and friends whenever I want them. Although I'm nowhere near a culture-shocked as I was last year, this makes up for it. The thought of going out and finding food is much more daunting than I remember. At least everything is cheaper here.

My hostel is pretty crazy. I'm in a room with about 20 other people with 3 different levels of bunks. The moment I walk in a girl started telling someone about "a girl with blonde dreads who has having sex last night and then peed all over someones luggage drunk afterwards".

Ahh, the hostel life.

I haven't ventured much because I have been so tired. I slept for a few hours as soon as I got here. Alright, I'm going to go find some food in this city.

Itinerary for Trip

Well, I've been working on my trip, and unlike last year (and in order to save money) I've pretty much laid out the entire thing.

May 25 - Depart from BWI
May 26 - 29: Prague, Czech Republic
May 29 - June 1: Hallstatt, Austria
June 1 - 3: Salzburg, Austia
June 3 - 6: Bled, Slovenia
June 6 - 9: Dubrovnik, Croatia
June 9 - 10: Plitvice, Croatia
June 10 - 12: Zagreb, Croatia
June 12 - 15: Budapest, Hungary
June 15 - 17: Eger, Hungary
June 17 -18: Vienna, Austria
June 18 - 22: Athens, Greece
June 23: Prague, Return Home

Europe 2008

Well, I wasn't kidding when I told you I would see you next year.

It's all confirmed: I will be returning to Europe on the 26th of May. I fly into Prague and will be visiting the following countries (give or take):

Czech Republic
Poland
Austria
Croatia
Serbia
Hungary

I will be gone for 4 weeks and will be returning on the 21st of June. Of course, I will be keeping you all updated along the way.

So now it's time to make some money and read some guide books.

See you in May!

Back to London: The End

And so I have returned to London.

I arrived after traveling all day from Belgium, and got some Chinese food before I celebrated my "last" night in Europe with some people I met out on the roof picnic area.

The next morning I awoke quite late and made my way down to the Globe Theatre to see when the next show was. The Globe Theatre is an outdoor theatre just like the ones used when Shakespeare was writing his plays. There is no amplification and only a little light for when the sun goes down, so it might as well have been four hundred years ago. I got there and they told me to come back around five to wait in line for no-shows, so I went off exploring until then.

My original plan was to see a play at the Globe that day and then see a show on the West End later that night, but after walking all the way to Leichester Square (where they sell half-price tickets) I found out that unlike New York, there are no shows on Sunday. I was a little dissapointed, but I figured I would just go to see Othello at the Globe that night at 6:30.

Before I went to go wait, I wandered around some more and realized how many interesting places I had missed my first time in London. Looking back, I really had no idea what I was doing my first week, so I can forgive myself. But that doesn't mean I wasn't dissapointed when I found the Tate Modern, National Film Museum, Prison Museum and the Theatre Museum all closed on a Sunday.

I eventually got back in line and while I was waiting a woman came out of nowhere and asked if anyone needed a £5 standing ticket. She was asking somenoe else, but I just shouted "I'll take it" and she gave it to me.

The show was awesome. I have never been so entertained by Shakespeare. The acting was brilliant. These people were definately some of the best theatre actors in the world, and it was really a great experience seeing it up close in such an intimate setting. At time during the performance, actors would run through the crowd (the theatre is primarily standing-only) and push you out of the way to get on stage. Sometimes they would be carrying lit torches or have their swords drawn, and it just added to the excitement. It was a little tough standing for 3 and a half hours, though. The girl next to me almost fainted and she had to sit down for about ten minutes. I think the only bad part of the show was when I got a hotdog at intermission. I bought it and piled a bunch of yellow mustard on it, thinking it was just normal mustard. When I got back to where I was standing and took a bite though I almost puked. The mustard was really, really spicy. And not like pepper-spicy, I mean wasabi-spicy. The kind that burns your sinuses instead of your tongue, and I had piled it on. I ended up wiping it off with a napkin and making a huge mess because there was no way I was throwing away a £5 hotdog.

After the show, I walked down the River Thames back to my hostel and got Chinese food again. I picked a bad place to splurge, though. It's more expensive in London than anywhere else in the world. Minimum wage here is £5.25. In America it's $5.35. One pound equals two dollars. See the problem?

I woke up this morning and went to get on the bus, and I met two girls that were waiting in the lobby. I told them as I left that if they needed a place to sleep, my key opened up room 11. They said that they needed to get to Heathrow instead, so we ended up splitting a cab to get to Paddington Station where a train took us directly to Heathrow. It's a long story that's not worth telling, but they helped me avoid a lot of stress and headache in the long run.

And so now I am here, sitting in a deserted room in Heathrow Airport, paying a copius sum for a few minutes of internet. As I look back on my trip and think about everything I have done, seen and experience it almost seems like it is too much. Like I'll never really be able to comprehend my entire trips. The memories I've made, places I've seen, people I've met - it all seems overwhelming. Kind of like when your life flashes before your eyes, and all you see it countless good and bad memories, all flowing at once without any order or pattern. I may be saying too much to get a simple point across, so what I really am trying to say is that this trip has been amazing. Just amazing. That's all I can really say.

So I guess I will leave everyone with a sort of "top ten". I've been thinking about this for a while, so here it goes...

10. Berlin in general
9. Drinking in the Delirium Cafe in Brussels and reuniting with Klara and Elli
8. Night out in Dusseldorf with Stefan and his friends
7. First night in Nice hanging out with the Italian girls
6. My day in Vondelpark
5. First night out with the Swiss guys in Stockholm
4. Watching the sunset over Paris on the Butte Montemarte
3. Italian dinner in Napoli when we were treated with wine and mussels
2. Watching the sun rise with a Swedish girl in Stockholm
1. Canyoning in Interlaken

Well, I hope you have enjoyed reading the blog over the last two months. It's been a great encouragement to read your comments and to know that people are interesting in what I am doing. There are so many other stories I haven't told; a lot of smaller stories that really made the trip unique that I just didn't have time to talk about, so make sure you talk to me about my trip when I get back! I'd love to tell you more about it.

Until next year... ;)

Brussels and Antwerp

Below this is the post about Amsterdam, and below that pictures are up for Copenhagen and Stockholm. Check 'em all out!

If you read back to the Paris entry, perhaps you will remember two girls I met in Paris named Elli and Klara (Klara gave me the tour of paris and the three of us went to the top of the hill overlooking all of Paris). Before I left Klara offered to give me a bed if I was ever in their area. Well, I took up Klara's offer and met her in Antwerp for a two day mega-tour of Brussels and Antwerp.

The trains were a bit screwed up at first, but I eventually did find her at the station. She told me that she could tell pretty quick that I was different that when I was in Paris. "I think your energy is gone, Mr. Rickenbach" Indeed. After almost seven weeks of traveling, I think I am ready to pass out. Nevertheless, she took me on a two hour walking tour over all of Antwerp at night. They have some really cool statues, including one of a man who killed a giant by throwing a human hand at him (ask me for the history of this - I have been educated in this matter). The city was really nice at night, but I was really tired and ready to go to bed, so we headed back.

Her parents were having some people over, but they were leaving as I arrived. Luckily for me, they had quite a bit of leftover paella, so I was able to fill my stomach before eventually drifting off to bed in her brother's old room.

The next morning we set out for Brussels. I told Klara I wanted three things that I believed to be exclusively Belgian: french fries (go figure), mussels and waffles. As long as I could consume those three foods during my stay in Belgium, my trip would be complete. The paella had mussels in it, so I was already way ahead of the curve when we went to Brussels. Her parents were working, so we took bicycles to the local trains station (the town of St. Niklaas, by the way). Apparently a lot of people ride bikes here.

We arrived in Brussels and spent the next few hours exploring the city. Everything from the town hall to the Palais du Justice to the little boy peeing - we saw it all. The most beautiful section of Brussels had to be the city square where the town hall was. It was really great.

We had worked up quite an appetite walking around, so we went to get some Belgian fries and nasty microwaved meat from a small diner type place. After eating solid grease and having a discussion about Belgian politics in french with the cook (I was really not a part of this at all), Klara took me to Delirium Cafe, a place that prides itself on serving over 2,004 different kinds of beer. We had a pretty good time there and we met some girls from Spain. I tried practicing my Spanish with them, but I didn't go that well. They told me it was good, but looking back, I'm not so sure. I was believing anything the gorgeous brunette was telling me at that point...

Elli gave us a call at that point and told us to meet her in fifteen minutes. Neither of us had seen her since Paris, so we were both excited to meet again. After a farewell to the Spanish girls (my low point of the night) we went out to meet Elli. Sure enough, she found us and we had a pretty good time just talking and laughing for a while. The best part was that we met right next to a van selling waffles (it's not as shady as it sounds, believe me). I ordered a "Banana Split Waffle" (or so I thought...it was in French) but to my horror I recieved a plain old banana split with a stupid little wafer waffle stuck on it. I couldn't believe it. I used up my last bit of pocket change for some crappy sundae. I HATE SUNDAES! Luckily there was an American behind me in line and I offered him 1.50 for it (a steal since it was 3.20). He bit and I got a nice crispy waffle glazed in caramel when I went back. My dining experience in Belgium was now complete. Turns out he was an under cover cop in NYC and had been to a few Maryland football games before.

We had to take the train back so our reunion with Elli was short-lived. We had some confusion when we got to the station because we thought that we had missed the last train to St. Niklaas and that her parents would have to pick us up from Antwerp, but it was not the case and we got to the station in time to ride our bikes through the country-side at night before completely passing out after such an exhausting day. The bike ride at night was really beautiful, though. The area is really flat so the sky was enormous.

Well, and that leaves me here, updating my blog on a sleepy Saturday morning. Back to London today!

But before I go, I must leave you with one interesting thing that falls off the list of most tourists. Everyone, and I mean everyone, goes to see that peeing boy...But how many have seen the peeing girl? Count me in for that one.

Bremen and Amsterdam

I stayed a night in Bremen because the journey from Stockholm from Amsterdam could not be done in one day. However long it was though, the ferry from Denmark to Germany had a beautiful sunset. I had trouble finding the hostel, and I again had to walk past numerous sex shops to get to it. Why is this always the case?

I shared an 8 person room with a fifty something year old who was ironing his jeans when I walked in. He seemed like a very nice man, but for the first time during my trip I was actually scared he was going to stab me to death in the night. He was in one section of the room and I was in the other, and all I could hear was him packing, changing, and then closing and locking the door and going through his bag (for the knife, I was sure). I'm not sure why I had such an irrational fear, but before I had any time to really worry I fell asleep. Oops.

I awoke in the morning to him scurrying around yelling "Scheiße, Scheiße, Scheiße!", so he must have been late for something.

On my way to Amsterdam I met some nice people from Florida and New York. The girl in this photo was staying at the same hostel I was, so we went out with the girl in this picture for dinner at an Indian restaurant and then went out and got some coffee afterwards (the guys in the photo were meeting some friends of their own).

The next day I was so tired from travelling I spent the majority of the day in Vondelpark, wandering around. Vondelpark is a giant park right near my hostel and it's full of different kinds of birds and flowers and landscapes. You can really spend an afternoon there checking out all of the nooks and crannies of the park. Out of all the cities I have heard about, Amsterdam is the most talked about. People always have an opinion about the city (it's hard not to when prostitution and weed is legal), so I was very anxious to see how I felt about it myself. People either love it or hate it (kind of like Napoli).

After going to the park I did all my laundry and hung it out around my bed to dry. You get pretty creative with laundry when you are on the road for so long...

The next day I met my friend Dieuwer in the city. Dieuwer and I used to play videogames with eachother online back when I was much younger, and since then we have become good friends. I told him I was in Holland and we thought it would be cool to meet up in Amsterdam and then spend the night at his family's house in Groningen.

We drove around for a while looking for parking until we found a place to stop so we could look at a map. We kind of lost track of time while looking at the map/talking and when we went to start the car back up again, the battery was dead.

We walked around for a while, looking for a door to knock on or someone to talk to to see if they have jumper cables. We asked someone in the street and she pointed us to a woman who had her door open. So we went over to her and asked her if she had cables, but she was really, really suspicious of us and told us to go find a garage. So we went and found a garage, but they were going to charge us twenty five freakin' euros to walk down the street and start a car.

Before all hope was lost and we broke down and paid the money, Dieuwer remembered that he had his dad's service card (like AAA). We called them and they arrived within twenty minutes and charged the battery, allowing us to continue our original quest of finding a parking garage.

We eventually did find one and then headed to the Anne Frank House. It was across the entire city center, so we did get to see a lot of Amsterdam. With all of its canals and houseboats, I think it's one of the most beautiful cities I have been to. I didn't get that close to the Red Light District, so I didn't get a chance to see all the trash and drug use people talk about, so from what I saw it was very nice.

Anne Frank house was pretty neat. We had to wait in a giant line for about forty minutes, but the inside was extremely interesting, if not creepy at times. I have only read half of her diary, so I think I will reread it again when I have the chance. It makes it a lot more exciting if you have actually been there.

After visiting the house, we decided we had had enough of Amsterdam and that it was time to make the drive to Groningen. Driving along the country side in Holland was really nice. Plus, he had an MP3 player so I could hear some familiar music I like, and believe me, that is a luxury.

We got to his house (a renovated two hundred and fifty year old farmhouse!) and fooled around on some guitars and computers before heading to bed. The next morning we packed my stuff in the car and I said goodbye to his parents and the two biggest dogs I have ever seen. (So on this trip I have seen the biggest lips ever and the biggest dogs ever) We headed out to the city center of Groningen and just browsed around for a few hours and also went up to the top of a church steeple that provided a great view.

Shortly after I hopped on the train to meet another friend in Belgium...

Stockholm

Everything you have heard about the women in Sweden is true. Everything.

Never, ever, ever have I seen such a concentration of gorgeous women in my life. Sitting in the station in either Copenhagen or in Sweden will provide you with hours of quality entertainment as you watch solid tens walk by.

Now that that has been said, I will tell you a little bit of what happened in Stockholm...

When I arrived at my hostel, a conversation took place that went something like this:

Hostel Guy: So are you hear for Pride?
Me: For what?
Hostel Guy: Gay Pride weekend is this weekend in Stockholm. That's why all the hostels are full.

(At this point a man dressed as Zorro with leather chaps walks by - No joke)

Me: Oh. Well....Alright. Ummm.
Hostel Guy: Anyways, here's your key.

Soon after that I met some folks from Germany who had completed their planned camping trip early and decided to spend their remaining time in Stockholm. After eating dinner at the hostel we all went out and walked around the city at night. Stockholm has a lot of bridges and islands, so at night it's really a sight to see.

The next day I slept in really late. Not sure why, but maybe it had something to do with the continously bad weather. I was planning on going to the Vasa Museum - a large museum dedicated to the Swedish ship that sank 400 years ago, but by the time I got up and took the metro and the ferry to the island, there were only two hours left and a massive line to get in. So I wandered around the Island, checking out a cool park and the Nordic Museum instead. I also found an aquarium with a really cool entrance. That entrance alone enticed me to spend over an hour inside looking at their fake rain forest (complete with fake rain).

When I got back to the hostel I met up with my roomates (three guys from Switzerland) who were planning to go out that night, so I decided to join them. After eating some dinner (one of them is a chef) we pre-gamed in the room, sang a rousing version of "Ob-la-di-Ob-la-da" and then headed out for quite a night. Sometime during the night I gave them my key (I still don't know why) and we got seperated, so I ended up locked out of the hostel at 7 in the morning, ringing the doorbell incessantly in hopes that someone would get up and let me in. A guy around the age of 65 walking past in the street did notice my situation, and offered to give me a hand.

Guy: Are you locked out?
Me: Yeah, I don´t have my key.
Guy: Are you here for the festival?
Me: (Far too rudely...I regret it) NO. No, I'm just...here.
Guy: Hmmm, well, let me see.

So he starts pressing the doorbell (like I had not thought of this already) and then jamming random buttons on the keypad in hopes that it would just open itself up if he continued to jam the numbers 2, 7 and the "#" symbol. He realized after about two good minutes of pressing random buttons that it wasn't going to work and then invited me for coffee. I told him it would be better for me to keep trying then to stay up another four hours until reception arrived, and he turned to leave, apparently insulted. I thought he was gone until I heard a voice from down the street.

"I am gay"

At this I just slowly turn my head to the side and wait for him to say something else.

"And I'm old so I have no interest in you. I just was offering you some coffee because you have a very long time to wait. I hope you survive."

I'm a little stunned at this, because when I told him I think it would be better if I stayed and waited I never even considered he was gay. So I kind of mutter a feeble "OK, well thanks man" and resume my door-bell ringing. Two minutes later, someone opens up.

The next morning I get up to go to the Vasa Museum, but as I am walking there I noticed that the streets were blocked off and people were crowded all over the place, waiting. I asked someone what the deal was and they told me.

How could I have forgotten so quickly? The gay pride parade. Always good for a laugh and can provide hours of entertainment. But I wouldn't have time for both. I would either have to watch the gay pride parade or go see the Vasa. Culture vs. Entertainment. After a half an hour of debating with myself, the Vasa won out.

The museum was great. In case you don't know the story of the Vasa, you can read about it here. It's better than reading me ramble on about it. It was tough to take good pictures because it's so big and you're so close, but I did manage to take a few.

I went out that night again with the Swiss guys and ended up watching the sun rise over Stockholm with a Swedish girl named Sandra. I didn't have time to enjoy the sunrise or her company for much longer though because my train left at ten. So I said goodbye to Sandra and to Stockholm and began my travelling marathon to Amsterdam a few hours later.